Velocette 1949/1956 KTT Mk VIII 348cc 1 cyl OHC 3501

Velocette 1949/1956 KTT Mk VIII “Dieter Busch Special” 348cc OHC engine # KTT 1035

The final development of the Velocette KTT, the Mk VIII, was introduced in 1938 at that year’s Earls Court Show, and was the first motorcycle to use the now-conventional swinging-arm rear fork with a shock absorber unit. The rear suspension system was designed by Veloce development engineer Harold Willis, and was inspired by the Oleo strut landing gear on the DeHavilland Hornet. Power developed was around 30hp@6500rpm, top speed was 100mph+. In December 1939 the war stopped KTT production, which was resumed in January 1947 and ended in 1951. Pre war Stanley Woods was the most successful rider on a Mk VIII, post war Freddy Frith and Bob Foster won the 350 cc World Championship in 1949 and 1950 respectively. Approximately 240 Mk VIIIs were built.

According to the Velocette KTT Register the machine with engine # KTT 1035 and frame SF 185 was despatched on May 8, 1949 to Fisher Motors in Hounslow, Great Britain. She then found her way to Germany and was raced for some years by Friedel Schön, who had been German champion in 1949 in the 250 cc class on a Bücker with home tuned JAP engine.
The Velo was passed on to racer Heinz Greeb, who later passed her on to Dieter Busch.
Busch was the engine tuner and frame builder of the world champion winning sidecar outfits of BMW stars Klaus Enders, Fritz Scheidegger and others. Busch raced the KTT for some time but he was not quite satisfied with the bike’s handling qualities. In 1956 he took the matter at hand; he acquired Norton Roadholder front forks from Jim Redman and built a matching frame as a Featherbed lookalike. This frame was specially adapted to the Mk VIII engine, gearbox and rear wheel. Busch sold the machine two years later, it’s unknown what happened to the original KTT forks and frame. Busch remembered later he tuned the engine to get a broader power band, some extra revs and even more reliability.

This very interesting “KTT Special” has been ridden in vintage races up to recently and is in fine overall condition.